Killer Whale Attacks: Strait of Gibraltar Orca Attacks Explained
Killer whales attacks are almost unheard of. Besides a few non-fatal orca attacks over the last century, the only major incidents have occurred in theme parks, where psychologically-traumatised killer whales have lashed out, with sometimes deadly consequences.
But something changed in the summer of 2020, orca started attacking boats off the Strait of Gibraltar and further round the Spanish coast. Why are these orca attacks happening, and should you be scared of killer whale attacks?
New Killer Whale Attacks: What Happened?
There have been a few reported incidents off the southern Spanish coast and the Strait of Gibraltar. Witness accounts and video footage shows killer whales chasing down and attacking boats. The entire pod will ram, bash and bite the craft. These are not one-off acts of curiosity. These are sustained acts of violence that have lasted over an hour, similar to a major hunt in the wild. While no boats have been sunk, the vessels suffer significant damage, with occupants finding the entire situation intensely traumatic and scary.
Why Did These Orca Attacks Take Place?
The short answer is, the animals are under stress and are lashing out, just as captive orca do.
The longer answer looks a little deeper into the threats and behaviour of the animals involved in these killer whale attacks.
Killer whales are known to eliminate threats to their survival. They were thought to have been involved in the extinction of the megalodon shark and -- knowing great whites eat baby orca -- have caused great white sharks to abandon their feeding grounds off the South African coast by hunting them aggressively.
Orca will hunt animals that they consider a threat even if they don’t intend on feeding on them.
But how do boats come into this?
It has not been confirmed, but the unusual circumstances of these killer whale attacks likely mean that the orca attacks have been carried out by a single pod. This pod is likely feeling threatened by boats and therefore attempting to remove them from their environment.
Why would they do that?
The Strait of Gibraltar is a unique place. It’s a narrow channel in which the killer whales hunt tuna, but they have to contend with tourism boats, commercial boats and fishing vessels. The large number of boats in the water is disruptive in itself, causing lots of noise and ruining the killer whales’ ability to hunt properly. When the orca do find tuna, fishing boats will often intercept the pod, knowing that the prized fish are in the area. Fishermen use baited hooks that not only cut and injure the killer whales but also steal their food.
In response, the killer whales eat food caught on baited lines, which infuriates fishermen. Fishermen have been known to retaliate violently, with unconfirmed rumours of fishermen using cattle prods and knives to attack the orca and scare them away from their nets and hooks.
But this is nothing new. Orca have been in the Strait of Gibraltar since records began, and human conflict with the animals has also been commonplace due to the value of tuna to fishermen. Killer whales here are endangered, their numbers are as few as 50, although this is up from their lowest point of around 30. Things have been bad for a long time.
Why then, have killer whale attacks just started?
Experts suggest that it’s something very simple: The killer whales are frustrated.
During lockdown due to COVID-19, the orca experienced something alien to their generation. They experienced peace. No tourism boats, no ferries and cargo boats, and no fishermen. Their home became a haven. Now activity has returned, and the killer whales come to understand that the problems they face aren’t an environmental hazard, they’re an unnecessary intrusion.
The theory is that they’re fighting back against, what is essentially, an injustice. They now understand they’re being threatened and mistreated, and they’re taking action.
Are Killer Whales Capable of this Kind of Thought Processing?
Taken directly from The Guardian:
Lori Marino from the neuroscience and behavioural biology program at Emory University in Atlanta found in orca brains an astounding capacity for intelligence. “If we are talking about whether killer whales have the wherewithal and the cognitive capacity to intentionally strike out at someone, or to be angry, or to really know what they are doing, I would have to say the answer is yes.”
Killer whales have been observed exhibiting behaviours in the wild that are beyond the kind of cognitive functioning we see in any other species. They are known to specialise in certain hunting tactics and have learned to eat only particular foods to avoid competing against other killer whales living in the same area. Captive orca have been recorded mimicking human words, and during the years when killer whales were hunted for capture for captivity, adult males would lure boats away from young and female orca to try and help them escape.
As Lori Marino says, killer whales are frighteningly intelligent animals. They likely understand that their food is being stolen and their habitat damaged by all these boats, and are trying to remove the threat like they do with great white sharks.
Are Killer Whales Becoming Dangerous?
Killer whales have always been dangerous.
While they may not fatally harm humans in the wild, these are voracious and powerful apex predators. They are intelligent and highly capable animals, more than a match for us in the water. They might not attack people, but that does not mean they aren’t dangerous.
The killer whale attacks on boats are unlikely to be directed at humans specifically, rather disruptive vessels plaguing their hunting grounds. It is unlikely that the killer whales would have harmed the individuals on the vessels should they have ended up in the water, as is demonstrated by a similar attack in 1972.
Killer whales attacked a boat near the Galapagos Islands, sinking the craft and forcing the family abroad to flee on a life raft -- which would have made the family easy prey. The orca did not pursue the life raft once the boat had been sunk, indicating they were after the vessel, not to the people on board.
How Do We Stop Killer Whale Attacks?
Killer whales are not threats to humans, we even advocated swimming with killer whales in Norway, but they are known to react badly to stressful stimulation, as is displayed by captive orca attacks. Their advanced brains and thought-processing make them susceptible to mental health problems and stress, which results in these powerful and dangerous animals lashing out towards their aggressors.
Killer whales do not attack when they’re not stressed, which means to prevent the relationship between orca and humans deteriorating, we need to take action to protect their habitat and allow them to live and hunt in peace. As anyone who understands shark behaviour will testify, it’s all too easy to villainise a large and dangerous predator that means humans no harm.
We don’t need to be fearful of killer whale attacks or start to try to prevent them by introducing aggressive tactics. The answer is to give the killer whales their territory back. If killer whales off the coast of Spain can return to a better hunting lifestyle, then we’ll probably see no more killer whale attacks.
Want to help the orcas under threat? WDC and ORCA are two charities constantly campaigning for better killer whale conservation. There are no specific publicly-backable conservation efforts that Xplore Our Planet could find for the orcas of the Sea of Gibraltar. The best way to help these animals and stop killer whale attacks is to share information and spread the word about what can be done to stop the stresses orca face.
